FlippinFlags

Who here has been to all three and can tell me what they liked and didn't like about them?

Which was best and why?

alan s 

I like Thai food the best, followed by Malaysian and then Vietnamese.

fietsbob

A friend moved to HCM city.. loves the weather.. brought over his Recumbent Tandem ..

Abu Mahendra

Living SEAsia for 17 years now. Been to all SEA countries, save for Brunei, lived in three.

THAILAND
​​Dislikes - every year more and more tourists (33 million in 2016)
Personal pet-peeves that need not bother you - lese majeste laws

VIETNAM
Dislikes - foreigners get charged more, visa process

MALAYSIA
Dislikes - Increasing Islamism
Personal pet-peeves that need not bother you - Malaysia-Truly-Asia messaging, apprpriation of Indonesian culture without due credit given, awful sounding Malay relative to mainstream Indonesian Malay, bumi putra preference system of positive discrimination, internal security laws

spinnaker

Is there anything you like about any of those countries?

Abu Mahendra

Oh, I like them all, previous caveats notwithstanding. We are even contemplating relocating to Malaysia in a few years despite my pet-peeves. There's plenty to like in all SEA countries.

pinholecam

Been to Thailand and Malaysia.

Thailand is a nice place for a tourist. (esp when your currency is stronger).
Good and cheap food, friendly people, and having everything for all sorts of needs/budgets from modern malls, to street markets.
If you like stronger tasting food, Thai food is great.
Generally safe too.


Malaysia is in some ways too similar to Singapore where I'm from to be a fair judge of things.
Generally cheaper, but I don't find that they take care of their environment/infrastructure properly.
Food is a good mix. (Chinese, Indian, Malay )

Pinkerton syndrome does still exist in these countries, so my assessment of friendliness will be a bit different, being ethnic Chinese with both countries having a local population of them (and loud/demanding China tourists influx not helping)
So generally, people will be more friendly to someone from Western countries.
But on the downside, they may also charge more.

FlippinFlags

How about the riding and road conditions between them?

FlippinFlags

Which of those had the best riding conditions? Cheapest accommodation at the lower budget end? More interesting or fun overall?

pinholecam

Thailand roads tend to have a section for motorbikes, so it feels safer.
I also find that the roads seems to be in better condition in general.

For Malaysia, I find that maintenance is always an issue with buildings, and roads.
Not that the roads are all bad, just that some sections would be rather poorly maintained.

When it comes to riding in cities... well cities are cities.

Can't advise on cheapest accomodation as I have not looked for those at all.


Both should be interesting to you as locations to visit since they are countries/cultures that you are unfamiliar with.

GamblerGORD53

Foreigners OUGHT to pay more. Pffft Let's see you cheapskates work for $5 a day.
I went from HCM up Vietnam at the end of 2014. Rode all the way from Hoi Anh to China. The start I got zonked by malaria pills, so had some van and bus rides.The SE coast is like desert California. The fields were mostly brown then, with the sugarcane harvest going on in the north. The first and last 300 miles roads were great, while the middle 600 miles were under construction, so I expect it is all good now. Lots of places were like a ride in the park. But anyways, I had little concern towards traffic or drivers. Don't expect anybody to STOP and let you across and don't get in front of buses. Even the truck drivers were waving hello. Saw happy school kids riding 2 or 3 times a day. Yah, the people want to sell you something. In Thailand, I hear they are just as likely to scam you. I like a bathtub, so I spent way more on hotels. Cheap hotels give me the creeps. Vietnam still has honest paid security/ parking attendants at most any store, so your bike will be 100% safe. I hate all foreign food, love fast food. I did a poor job of doing sightseeing tourist things and spent more days wandering the big cities. My SMP 35mm tires had NO flats or problems.

tspoon

I've been to all three, I enjoyed Thailand the most, Malaysia second, and Vietnam third, but those rankings are as much of a reflection of my lack of preparation as they are of any local condition. Thailand is fairly westernised in terms of having 7-11 stores all over the place where you can quickly top up your food and drink whilst riding. You can buy beer cheaper in Thailand or Vietnam than in Malaysia, that may or may not be important to you. Vietnam didn't have as many places where you could quickly top up food/drink, especially if the language barrier crops up. The traffic was somewhat crazy in Vietnam in my experience, by comparison Malaysian and Thai drivers seemed to go out of their way to give extra room.
I still think you could have a great holiday in Vietnam, I just went down highway 1, kinda boring, there is definitely more interesting places to go I could have researched. At the end of the day though, it's 'easier' to do it in mainland Malaysia or Thailand than in Vietnam, IMO.